Written in exile, intercepted in the post and banned as a publication by apartheid censorship because the language was considered "offensive" and the portrayal of the South African Armed Forces "prejudicial to the safety of the state", the Argus hailed Somewhere on the Border as "the toast of the Grahamstown Festival" when it opened in South Africa in 1986. The play was praised for its "bitingly funny language" (The Star), as "the best army play" (Natal Witness) and as "the ultimate anti-war statement in South African theatre" (Argus).